


To Loosen Up A Little

by SilverMoonSky



Series: Marichat May 2020 [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Chat Noir Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Lady Noir, Cute, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Guardian Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Identity Reveal, Ladybug Adrien Agreste | Mister Bug, Marichat May 2020, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Mouse Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Mouse Miraculous, Post Season 3 Finale, fluff and fluff and more fluff yeet, they're both co-guardians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23995918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonSky/pseuds/SilverMoonSky
Summary: "Are you sure? I mean, if I were Ladybug, I’d be a bit frustrated that someone made a decision without consulting me.”“Ladybug and I make decisions together, yes,” Chat said as they continued going towards what Multimouse assumed was the Eiffel Tower, “but you’re missing something, princess.”“Oh? And what’s that?”“You’re forgetting that Ladybug isn’t here,” Chat said with a grin.  “So quit worrying about what she’d say and have some fun!” He catapulted into the air and performed several stunts before he landed on the next building.Multimouse could only gape at him.Written for Day 3: Mouse for Marichat May.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Marichat May 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726804
Comments: 51
Kudos: 590





	1. Chapter 1

When Marinette politely declined going on patrol with Chat so she could work on other important things, she’d expected to have a quiet evening to get stuff done. What she hadn’t expected, however, was for said cat to show up at her balcony about an hour later with nothing but a huge grin on his face.

“Hey Marinette!” Chat said cheerfully as she opened her trapdoor. “Whatcha doing?”

“Chat Noir?” Marinette asked in confusion. “What’re you doing here?”

“I’ve come to ask you a little favor, princess. Can I come in?”

“Uh, sure.” Marinette nodded and gestured for him to come inside. She walked down the steps from her bed and sat back down at her desk, where she’d been working on a couple of commissions. Chat Noir followed her and sat down on her chaise. “So why’re you here?”

Her mind was racing. Chat Noir hadn’t been to her house since the Weredad incident--and that hadn’t exactly been the most pleasant experience--so why was he here now? Marinette went through everything she’d said and done in the past twenty-four hours. She’d never mentioned herself while she was Ladybug, she hadn’t said anything remotely related to Chat Noir while she was Marinette. . . . so that left the question: why in the world was he here?

Chat gave her a cheeky smile. “Marinette, are you busy tonight?”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Why’re you asking?”

“Well,” Chat said, “Ladybug had a couple of things to do in her civilian life tonight, so she isn’t able to come on patrol with me.”

“Oh. I um, I’m sure she has her reasons,” Marinette said.

Chat nodded. “I know. So because Ladybug isn’t going to be joining me, I’m going to be lonely.”

She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. “Don’t you do a lot of solo patrols though?”

“I do,” he said, “but today I had a different thought. I was wondering. . . . would you like to join me on patrol?”

Marinette blinked dumbfoundedly at him. “Me?”

“Yup!” Chat grinned. “You see, while I’m sure Ladybug would’ve loved to join me today--after all, who wouldn’t?--she has important things to do. So until then, I thought it would be a good idea to get to know some of my teammates!”

“But I thought that my identity was compromised and I couldn’t be used again,” Marinette said. Since when had she and Chat started bringing any of the temporary heroes on patrol?

Chat shrugged. “Most of our allies’ identities have already been compromised,” he explained, “so we have to use who we’ve already got. Ladybug and I have been discussing this for a while, and we both agreed that we could still use you.”

Marinette vaguely remembered a conversation she’d had with Chat earlier in the week as her alter ego.

_ “Chat, I thought I told you we couldn’t use Marinette anymore,” Ladybug said, exasperated. _

_ “But think about it! With all our teammates’ identities compromised, we have to use who we’ve already got,” he said. “The only person that knows Multimouse's identity is me, and I can keep a secret.” _

_ “Hawk Moth could’ve seen her detransform too,” Ladybug pointed out. This was getting frustrating; Chat had been pestering her for days about bringing Multimouse back, and obviously they couldn’t. But Chat didn’t know that. _

_ “Or he didn’t,” Chat said. “We should at least try, Ladybug. We don’t have too many allies, after all. We need to use whoever we have.” _

_ “I’ll think about it,” Ladybug responded. _

Marinette was positive “I’ll think about it” didn’t equate to “I agree.”

“Are you sure Ladybug specifically  _ said _ that you could use me again?” Marinette asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Chat smiled sheepishly at her. “Um, yes?”

“Chat.”

“Okay, no, she didn’t say that,” Chat said. “She said she’d think about it.  _ But _ ,” he added, “I thought this would be a great opportunity for her to see how amazing you are.”

“Oh.” Marinette’s cheeks flushed with color at the statement. “That’s, um, really nice of you Chat, but I have a lot to get done today.” She gestured at her desk, covered in various pieces of fabric and papers. “I have a couple of commissions to get through, and I have a physics test in a couple of days that I need to study for.”

Chat’s entire face fell, and his ears drooped as he frowned. “Does this mean you can’t come?”

“I, um. . . .” Marinette bit her lip.

Chat seemed so  _ disappointed. _ On the one hand, she knew that she shouldn’t say yes and explain to him that she didn’t want to be used, so that he stopped pestering Ladybug about Multimouse. Problem solved. But on the other hand, Marinette knew how much it meant to Chat to finally be a co-guardian. It was something Ladybug had been putting off for months, and now that it finally happened, she knew Chat was determined to do the best he could--starting with the new heroes.

Well, maybe she could be nice and agree this  _ one _ time. She didn’t have to again, right? And besides, it would be nice to take her mind off things for a while.

“I guess I can go out for a little while,” Marinette said reluctantly. Immediately Chat’s face lit up.

“Great!” He grinned and pulled out a Miraculous box from his pocket and handed it over to her. Marinette opened it to see the Mouse Miraculous, She quickly greeted Mullo, transformed into Multimouse, and watched as Chat made his way up to the balcony.

Multimouse followed him. “So, where are we going?”

“Ladybug and I normally do our patrol routes separately,” Chat said, launching himself towards the nearest building with his baton. Multimouse carefully tossed one end of her jump rope towards the same building, attempting to use it like she would her yoyo. To her delight, it worked. “But since you’re a newbie, you can join me.”

“Isn’t Ladybug going to be a bit annoyed that you brought me out here without telling her?” she asked.

Chat shrugged. “She’ll get over it,” he said.

Multimouse fought the urge to roll her eyes--because no, Ladybug was most definitely going to have words with him the next time she saw him--and instead said, “are you sure? I mean, if  _ I _ were Ladybug, I’d be a bit frustrated that someone made a decision without consulting me.”

“Ladybug and I make decisions together, yes,” Chat said as they continued going towards what Multimouse assumed was the Eiffel Tower, “but you’re missing something, princess.”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“You’re forgetting that Ladybug isn’t here,” Chat said with a grin. “So quit worrying about what she’d say and have some fun!” He catapulted into the air and performed several stunts before he landed on the next building.

Multimouse could only gape at him.

Yeah, she was  _ definitely  _ going to have a talk with him later.

“Come on, loosen up, Multimouse!” Chat called from where he was standing on the building. “Have some fun!”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but find some truth in his words. She supposed she could cast aside her responsibilities for now and have a little fun, right? Paris was safe, the Miracle Box was carefully tucked away in a place only she and Chat had access to, and all her commissions and studying could wait a little while longer.

So Multimouse launched herself off the rooftop, did several stunts with her jump rope, and landed on the building next to Chat with a sly grin. “Race you!”

“I--what?” Chat barely had time to register her words before Multimouse rushed across rooftops as she leapt towards the Eiffel Tower. “Hey! That’s not fair!”

“Of course it is,” Multimouse yelled. She was several rooftops ahead of him, and she could now see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. “You’re just a slowpoke.”

“You started before me!” Chat whined. “That’s not fair!”

The Eiffel Tower was in her reach now. Multimouse turned around, intending to give Chat a smirk as she bounded towards the finish line and inevitably won the race. This was a piece of cake; after all, she won races against Chat all the time when she was Ladybug. Being Multimouse was no different.

What she hadn’t accounted for, however, was for Chat to be  _ right _ behind her, and she certainly hadn’t expected him to keep going when she’d stopped and turned around. She  _ definitely _ hadn’t expected for the impact to knock them both off the race and cause them to land on a lower rooftop, entangled in her jump rope with Chat on top of her.

And she certainly hadn’t expected a certain warmth to go through her at his proximity, or for a blush to spread across his cheeks.

She was the one to shove him off. “Chat!”

“What?” He asked, getting up to his feet and rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. “You’re the one that turned around.”

“You should’ve stopped,” Multimouse pointed out.

“Well, I’ve stopped now,” Chat said. “There. Are you happy?”

Multimouse nodded before flashing a grin at him. “Yup, because that means I’m gonna win!” And with that, she launched herself towards the Eiffel Tower.

“Not again!” Chat complained as he threw himself after her. “You’re being mean!”

“It’s not my fault you can’t admit that you’re slow,” Multimouse said. She landed gracefully on one of the tower’s beams and waited for him to join her.

He crossed his arms over his chest when he landed beside her. “I’m not though. I win against Ladybug all the time.”

She scoffed. “Sure.”

“It’s true!” He protested indignantly. “You can ask her yourself.”

_ And she would say no, _ she thought with a smile.

“So,” Multimouse said, sitting down at the edge and dangling her legs, “what do we do now?”

“We should patrol the rest of Paris,” Chat said, sitting down beside her, “but I think we deserve a break for a little while.”

With that, the two of them sat down side by side and watched over Paris as it was at night. They bantered with one another, teased, and joked around. It felt nice. She would never admit it, but it was actually a lot of fun hanging out with Chat as Multimouse. Whenever she was Ladybug, she felt the need to keep up an air of professionalism; however, when wielding the Mouse Miraculous, she felt none of that. She felt joy. She felt carefree.

She supposed she could let herself loosen up a little bit. And she supposed that meant taking up the Mouse Miraculous once in a while. That would make both her and Chat happy.

Of course, that was after she had a long talk with him as Ladybug. He had it coming for him.

But until then, Multimouse mused, she could enjoy this time with her partner and make the best of it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Marinette begins to regret agreeing to let Chat give her the Mouse Miraculous, she decides a kwami swap would be the best way to distract him from calling her on patrol for a while. But of course, she was wrong.
> 
> Written for Day 12: Kwami Swap for Marichat May.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wasn't going to expand this, but an idea came to me while I was rereading this, so I thought I'd write a follow up with this prompt. Hope you enjoy! :)

Marinette was starting to regret agreeing to let Chat give her the Mouse Miraculous every once in a while. It had been several weeks since she’d first gone on patrol with him. It wasn’t that she minded spending time with him--after all, the Mouse Miraculous let her feel freer than the Ladybug one did--but it was getting to the point where it interfered with her regular patrol schedule. Despite however many times Ladybug declined patrolling with Multimouse, Chat just didn’t seem to get the hint.

“Ladybug,” Chat had asked one day, “are you  _ jealous _ of Multimouse?”

“What?” She looked at him, baffled. “Of course not!”

_ How could I be jealous of myself? _

“Oh I don’t know,” Chat said, “you seem to be avoiding her at all costs. If you were anyone else, I would say you’re jealous because she’s spending time with me, but that can’t be.”

For some reason, that statement brushed her the wrong way. “And why  _ can’t _ I be?”

Chat blinked at her in surprise. “I thought you were in love with someone else.”

“I am!”

“So then why--”

“I don’t have feelings for you, kitty, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Ladybug said, interrupting him. “And I’m not jealous of Multimouse either.”

“Sure,” Chat muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

Marinette thought about that night with a frown, glancing idly at the ring that now adorned her right hand. It had been several days since they’d had that conversation. Ladybug had gotten so frustrated with Chat pestering her about being jealous that she offered to swap Miraculouses for a while. It was so they could get used to each other’s powers, but Marinette would be lying if she said she didn’t also think it would distract Chat from asking Multimouse to come on patrol for a little bit.

Well, she’d been wrong. Chat had almost immediately come over as Mister Bug and asked her when she was free for patrol that week. And so, not wanting to disappoint him, she’d agreed to going on patrol as Multimouse today.

She sighed as she twirled a pen idly in her hand while she worked on homework. She wondered how long it would take before she could finally stop dancing around him like this.

“What’s with the long face, Pigtails?” Plagg asked as he munched on some cheese bread from the bakery.

Marinette frowned. “I’m starting to think agreeing to use the Mouse Miraculous was a bad idea.”

Plagg snickered. “Oh yes,  _ that _ mess.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” The kwami grinned. “Trust me, my chosen’s a mess trying to get his two favorite girls to get along. It’s very entertaining to watch.”

“Two favorite--” she broke off, feeling her face burn.

Wait. Why was she blushing? That statement shouldn’t have affected her in any way. After all, Chat had been in love with Ladybug once, but that was in the past. And it wasn’t as if he was in love with Marinette all of a sudden; they were just friends. Marinette didn’t see Chat in that way. She might’ve moved on from Adrien (but still claimed she loved someone else, just so the silly cat didn’t get any ideas--who knows, what if he fell in love with her again if she told him her heart was free?), but she didn’t have feelings for Chat. Of course she didn’t. He was just her partner. Nothing more.

So then why did Chat referring to her--as her alter ego  _ and _ as her civilian self--as his “favorite girls” bring an unexpected warmth flooding through her?

“Yeah, you should see him. He’s convinced Ladybug hates Multimouse from her screw up against Kwamibuster,” Plagg said. “It’s why he’s been begging you to get Multimouse to come on patrol too.”

“But why would I hate  _ myself _ ?”

“He doesn’t know that though.”

She let out a long sigh. “That’s true. The only reason I started using the Mouse Miraculous was so I could forget about my responsibilities as Ladybug, but I didn’t expect to get tangled in  _ this _ mess instead!”

Plagg shrugged. “If you ask me, I think you should just tell him you don’t want to be Multimouse anymore. It’ll make things easier.”

“But I don’t want to hurt him,” she said. “I know how much it means to him to finally have a say in who gets a Miraculous. I can’t take that away from him.”

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Pigtails. It’s your problem, not mine.”

Marinette huffed. “I wasn’t asking you for advice,” she pointed out.

Plagg simply shrugged and stuffed more cheese bread into his mouth.

“Anyways,” she said, glancing at the time, “I should probably get going. I’m going to be late for patrol.”

“Wait, but I thought--”

Marinette didn’t wait for him to finish the sentence. “Plagg, claws out!”

Lady Noire walked up and opened her trapdoor, ready to launch herself into the night, when she came in contact with a spotted red and black hand that had been poised to knock. She stared at it in shock. Her eyes traveled upwards, taking in a boy with messy blond hair with wide, green eyes blinking dazedly back at her. Because no, it couldn’t be. . . . there was no way she had just revealed her identity--

“Lady Noire?” Mister Bug croaked, tightening his grip on the Miraculous box he was holding.

She didn’t answer him. Perhaps the most logical and easiest way to get out of this situation was to play it off. Tell him she was checking on Marinette before he met her on patrol. Or let him know that Marinette was sick and she couldn’t come. But unfortunately, in the spur of the moment, she thought of none of those things. 

Lady Noire instead slammed the trapdoor shut and sank back onto her bed, calling her transformation off.

Great. Marinette belatedly realized today was the day she agreed to go on patrol as Multimouse. How could she have been so  _ stupid _ ? Now Chat knew her identity, and he would be so mad at her for playing him with both of her identities, and then he’d hate her, and then--

“Pigtails!” Plagg hissed. “Snap out of it!”

Marinette didn’t respond, letting out a groan and burying her face in her hands. The trapdoor creaked open, but she didn’t notice. All she could think was,  _ he’s going to hate me, _ because this entire time, she’d been Multimouse  _ and _ Ladybug. She’d been playing him! She’d agreed to use the Mouse Miraculous fully knowing the consequences! He was most definitely going to be angry with her, and then she’d be alone, forced to face akumas with no partner because she’d driven him off and he would never trust her and she would never be able to fall in love with him--

Wait, what?

Laughter cut through the air, shattering Marinette’s thoughts. She looked up to see her partner clutching his stomach with an arm as he doubled over, giggles shaking him. When Marinette raised an eyebrow at him, he simply laughed harder.

“What’s so funny?” she asked in bewilderment.

“I can’t believe I thought you were jealous of yourself,” Mister Bug wheezed. From somewhere behind her, Plagg snickered along with his chosen.

With a sigh, Marinette pushed herself up and onto her balcony. “Well, I did tell you that I wasn’t,” she said.

“But it made so much sense!” he exclaimed. “Why else would Ladybug hate Multimouse?”

“I never said I hated Multimouse.”

“But it definitely seemed like it,” Mister Bug pointed out. His laughing fit had finally ended. “You were so adamant on not going on patrol with Multimouse.”

“And now you know why.”

“This is not how I expected to figure out your identity,” he said.

Marinette laughed. “Yeah, me too.”

It was silent for a while as the two of them stared at each other. Neither was exactly sure what to do now that he’d figured out her identity. It was Plagg who broke the silence.

“I don’t know about you two,” he said, “but patrol’s not going to do itself.”

“You’re just saying that so you can go snack on the cheese in the bakery,” Marinette said.

Mister Bug’s eyes widened. “ _ Plagg, _ you’re not doing that.”

The kwami simply grinned and floated back down into Marinette’s bedroom. She sighed and turned back to him.

“Well,” Mister Bug said, “now that that’s over, are you still up for patrol as Multimouse?”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Really? But now that you know my identity, there’s no need for me to use the Mouse Miraculous anymore.”

He scoffed. “Princess, even if I didn’t know your identity, it’s so obvious that you love being Multimouse.” He gave her a cheeky smile. “You flirt a lot more, joke around, and admire my  _ meowvelous  _ looks. . . .”

Marinette felt a blush light up her cheeks. “Well,” she stuttered, “that’s because I can’t be like that as Ladybug.”

“And why not?”

She was sure her face was on fire now. “Ladybug’s supposed to be professional,” she muttered.

He leaned closer, wiggling his eyebrows at her. “So,” he said slowly, “that means that if Ladybug wasn’t supposed to be so professional, you would act this way around me all the time, right?”

“Chat!” Marinette whined, burying her face in her hands.

“Relax, princess, I’m just teasing. But you know, if you like me like that, all you have to do is let me know, and I’ll--”

Marinette snatched the Miraculous box from his hand, effectively cutting him off. “Don’t we have patrol, Mister Bug?”

He grinned. “Why yes we do, Multimouse.”

“Then why don’t we get on with it?”

“Fine by me.” Mister Bug glanced at her with a teasing glint in his eyes. “But you can’t avoid this forever!”

“Avoid what, exactly?”

“You know what I mean.”

And yes, Marinette knew perfectly well what he meant as she put on the Mouse Miraculous.

Even if she wasn’t ready to admit it to herself yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, someone's in denial of her feelings~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is having some trouble accepting what she feels, but luckily a certain cat helps her through it.
> 
> Written for Day 18: Banana for Marichat May.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, really late, but this happens to be my favorite chapter yet. Enjoy! :)

The days following the reveal ended up being quite uneventful. Despite Chat now knowing her identity, Marinette decided that it would be best if she didn’t know his yet. He was a little disappointed, but respected her decision. He knew why she didn’t want to know. It was simply precautions that would keep them both safe.

At least, that was what she told herself.

Because the real truth was, Marinette wasn’t sure she was ready to see who he was under the mask yet. Not that she was anxious or afraid of seeing who he actually was; in fact, it was the opposite. She desperately wanted to know who was under the mask. She desperately wanted to see the boy that made lame jokes and puns, who was always there for her as both Ladybug and Marinette, and the boy that somehow, through all these years, had gotten her to fall for him.

But Marinette was afraid of accepting her feelings. Seeing who lay under the disguise of Chat Noir would make what she felt  _ real. _ She wouldn’t be able to keep them under the surface. As of now, she only saw Chat on patrols and during akumas. But if what he’d told her was true, she knew him in their civilian lives. How would she be able to ignore how she felt out in the open? How would she be able to keep the front she’d put up for so long?

_ Don’t ignore your feelings then, _ Tikki had told her chosen when Marinette rambled about the issue.  _ Just go for it, Marinette! Ask him out! _

She couldn’t just  _ do _ that! Things between them would drastically change! What if something happened between them, what if their friendship was ruined, all because of her stupid emotions?

And that wasn’t all. Marinette still remembered the incident with Chat Blanc, when he told her that it was their love that had led to the destruction of the world. It was why she’d avoided accepting what she felt for so long, but ugh,  _ why _ did Chat have to be so likeable?!  _ Why _ did she have to fall for him?!

She would never forgive herself if the world was destroyed simply because she couldn’t control her feelings. So the best Marinette could do for now was put what she felt for Chat in the back of her mind, hoping that it didn’t come back to bite her in the near future.

But of course it would. Because now that Chat knew, he was never going to let it go.

“You know, I’ve been wondering something for a while now,” he said one day. They were currently sitting on the Eiffel Tower after patrol.

Multimouse cocked her head. “What is it?”

“You said you were in love with someone else,” Chat said, “as Ladybug. But then whenever you’re Multimouse, you’re a lot more open, and you  _ flirt _ with me.”

“I don’t flirt with you!” Multimouse protested.

Chat raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t know, bug. It definitely seems like flirting to me.”

She groaned, her face turning red. “Do we have to talk about this?”

He laughed. “I’m just curious, princess. I just assumed it was because you still had a crush on me from the Weredad incident, but well, now that I’ve figured out you’re Ladybug. . . .” he trailed off as another thought occurred to him. “Wait. If you had a crush on me all the way back when Weredad happened, does that mean—”

“You know what, let’s play a game!” Multimouse exclaimed suddenly, cutting him off.

“You’re avoiding the topic again,” Chat teased.

“No, no,” Multimouse said, “I actually have an idea. Let’s play two truths and a lie.”

“Two truths and a lie?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Just to like, get to know each other more, since well, now that I think about it, I don’t really know you all that well. . . .”

“That sounds like the  _ purrfect _ idea,” Chat said, grinning. “I’ll start.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod.

“My favorite color is green, I’m a dog person, and I hate bananas.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Multimouse said, “you’re so obviously a cat person.”

He simply grinned.

Her jaw dropped. “No.  _ No.  _ You—you can’t—you’re  _ Chat Noir _ ! You can’t be a dog person!”

“But what if I am, princess?” he asked, amusement in his gaze. “What will you do then?”

“Well, then I’d have to take your Miraculous away, of course,” Multimouse said with an air of arrogance. “The Cat Miraculous can’t be wielded by a  _ dog _ person.”

“Technically, you can’t take my Miraculous away because I’m the Guardian too, remember? So you would have to have my consent. And obviously, I say no.”

“I’ll take it by force then,” she said. Chat laughed.

“You’re right though, that was the lie,” he said. “Of course I’m a cat person!”

Multimouse scoffed. “Thought so. You’ve already told me your favorite color is green, and I know for a fact you’ve hated bananas since the bananoir incident.”

Chat shuddered. “That was the worst. Remind me to never use that disguise again.”

“I’ll make sure of that,” she said with a laugh. She made a mental note to start making a disguise for Chat the next time he didn’t have his Miraculous during a battle. “Anyways, it’s my turn now.”

Chat shifted into a more comfortable position and nodded at her to continue.

“My favorite sweets at my parent’s bakery are their macarons, I want a hamster, and my favorite artist is XY.”

“That one’s easy too,” Chat said. “Your favorite artist is obviously Jagged Stone, duh.”

“Yup! Kitty Section is a close second, though. XY is just. . . .”

“Boring,” they said in unison.

“Okay okay, my turn!” Chat paused and thought for a moment. “I play the piano, I come from a big family, and I have a cheese stash in my room.”

“The piano,” Multimouse said. “The cheese stash is for Plagg, and you seem like the type of person that’s stealing all the attention during big family gatherings.”

Chat shook his head. “I wish! I’m an only child, actually. My parents don’t have many siblings either, so big family gatherings were never a thing.”

“Wait. So you  _ do  _ play the piano?” she asked in disbelief.

“What, do I not seem like I would?”

“You play  _ classical _ music?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Chat Noir,” she said, dead serious, “and here I thought you were a die-hard Jagged Stone fan that never listened to anything else.”

“Well, I do,” he said with a laugh, “the piano is something my father makes me do. My mother used to play, and it reminds us of her.”

Huh, interesting. Unconsciously, Multimouse stored away the information. It might become useful later.

“My turn again,” she said. “I don’t know a single word of Chinese, I love dark chocolate, and one of my favorite French names is Emma.”

“The dark chocolate,” Chat said. “Who even  _ likes _ dark chocolate?”

Multimouse seemed offended. “I do.”

“Seriously?” Chat gaped at her. “It’s not even sweet!”

“That’s the point!”

“You grew up in a bakery!”

“That’s precisely why I don’t like milk chocolate,” Multimouse said. “It’s too sweet.”

“I should’ve grown up in a bakery,” Chat said with a pout. “You obviously don’t appreciate sweet things enough.”

She simply laughed. “I’ll see if I can get my parents to adopt you. Your turn,  _ minou _ .”

“Wait, what was the lie?”

“That I don’t know a single word of Chinese.” Multimouse grinned. “I do know a couple of words, but I’m not fluent.”

“Smart,” he muttered.

For the next hour, the two of them went on like that, continuing to exchange small, mundane details about one another. Despite the fact that she still didn’t want to know his identity, each little detail slipped carelessly out of his tongue. And instead of berating him like she usually would, Multimouse instead encouraged him. Chat always looked over at her and asked if it was okay to keep going. And she would reply  _ yes, keep going, let me get to know you more. _

It worked. With each round, Multimouse learned something new about her partner that she hadn’t known before. Like the fact that he’d been homeschooled most of his life. That no, his hair was not always as messy as it was when he wore the mask. That he did fencing, he didn’t have the best relationship with his father, and he worked in the fashion industry. If she wanted to, she knew she could connect the dots; he’d definitely given her enough clues to figure out his identity, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to. If she did. . . . what she felt would be  _ real _ . And that was the last thing she wanted.

Somehow, the little details that they discovered became more. Topics shifted. Things got a little more serious between them, until—

“I’ve been in love with the same girl for years, somehow I’ve ended up falling for her twice, and I’m definitely not afraid to hear how she feels about me.” Chat glanced at her with nothing but affection in his eyes.

Multimouse bit her lip. “The last one,” she said quietly, looking away from him.

He hummed in agreement. “Spot on, my lady. Your turn.”

And suddenly, although her mind screamed at her to stop, words just tumbled out of her mouth.

“I’m in love with my crime-fighting partner, I want to figure out his identity so badly but I can’t, and I’m afraid of what will happen once I know who lays under the mask.” Not that she didn’t have a guess already, though. Chat had given her way too many clues.

“Obviously the second one,” he said, turning to her with a soft smile. “It’s not that you can’t. All you have to do is ask.”

“But I  _ can’t _ ,” Multimouse said.

“That’s silly, bug, and you know it.” Chat reached over and took one of her hands in his. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

_ If I figure out your identity, our dynamic would change. My feelings for you would be  _ real _ , and I wouldn’t be able to keep them to myself anymore. What if Chat Blanc happens again? What if our friendship is ruined because of my stupid emotions? What if _ —

“Princess,” he said, “you’re overthinking again.”

She shrugged helplessly. “I can’t help it.”

Chat squeezed her hand. “Here’s an idea,” he said, “what does your heart say?”

Multimouse frowned and shook her head. “A good superhero always uses her head.”

“Well,” he said, “would you say that I’m a bad superhero?”

“What? Of course not!”

“But I always follow my heart. Does that make me any less worthy?”

She hesitated. “That’s—”

“Different?” Chat smiled. “Not really.”

“What would you do, then?” she asked.

“Whatever feels right,” he said. “If it feels right to you, then do it, bug. It doesn’t make you any less worthy of your Miraculous.”

Multimouse swallowed the lump in her throat. Gosh, how did he always know  _ exactly  _ what to say to make her feel better? It wasn’t as though she hadn’t thought about listening to her heart before, but now that he’d said it himself. . . .

Her heart told her to go for it. Her heart told her to accept what she felt for him, to embrace it, to let him see it. Her heart told her that if they made things work, their love wouldn’t  _ destroy _ the world; instead, if they tempered it just enough, they could let it blossom and grow into something beautiful.

“Your turn,” Multimouse said, turning to face him. “And I. . . . I guess I’d like to finally know, if you’d want to tell me.”

Chat grinned. “My name is Adrien Agreste,” he said, “I moonlight Paris as Chat Noir, and I definitely don’t want to kiss the girl sitting next to me.”

Her heart fluttered in her chest. “The last one?”

He leaned over and cupped her cheek. “Your turn,” he murmured.

Looking into his eyes, she said, “my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I moonlight Paris as Ladybug and Multimouse, and I also definitely don’t want to kiss the boy sitting next to me.”

“The last one,” Chat whispered.

She hummed in agreement and scooted closer so that their knees knocked against one another’s. Her gaze flitted over his lips. Dozens of scenarios went through her head; good ones, bad ones, and yet, for the first time since she’d realized what she felt, Multimouse pushed all the thoughts away. It didn’t matter what  _ could _ happen. What mattered was what was  _ going to _ happen.

And what mattered was that sometimes, following your heart over your head wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Can I kiss you?” she asked breathlessly.

“You don’t even have to ask,” he said, and they did just that.


End file.
